December 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Most of my extended family now lives in Tucson, where I have been for the past week. The southwest feels as different from the northeast as the U.S. is from China--stark contrasts, including, of course, the weather. From warm dry sunny days to to frigid gray snowy days, I am back in New Hampshire to welcome a new year.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Thanks for posting everyone! The greens giveaway drawing is tomorrow, so post there if you're interested in getting some green fabric to play with this winter. There will be more color packages as I cull my stash, so check back. I don't like to make a big deal of giveaways or wait a long time to build up a long list--I just like to do it quickly for those who are reading here anyway!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Pittsburgh, PA's North Hills Quilt Guild has outdone themselves with beautiful blocks--nearly enough for two quilts! (I lived in Pittsburgh from the late summer of 1985 to the early summer of 1993--three of my four children were born there.) I have begun pressing and trimming, and I will start sewing tonight!

Meanwhile, my slow slog through my studio continues, and the theme today is "green." Green, like birds and bulbs in yesterday's post, is to me a hopeful symbol, a sign of renewal, growth and life. This next giveaway will be on my sister-in-law's birthday, December 20th. You know the drill. Leave a comment before noon EST, I'll chose at random, ask for a mailing address, and send the fabric out pronto, anywhere in the world. Why not? It's fun to share, and it's good to send fabric I like, but am unlikley to use, off to a good home!

some yards, half-yards, fat and long quarters, a smaller piece or two--all new

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

I drove through Connecticut this past Saturday morning, where I lived for nearly 10 years (in Westport and New Haven, between the late winter of 1974 and the late summer of 1983), on my way to have lunch with my 90 year old mother-in-law in Manhattan. Signs and billboards along the highway had been changed or newly errected to honor those slain the day before.

I have not watched the news on television, it is not my habit, nor have I done much reading of actual or virtual papers. I felt compelled, however, to watch the memorial service when I found it on Sunday night. Words of prayer, comfort and hope were offered, from Jews, Muslims, Christians of several denominations, Bai'hi, Buddhists, and maybe others I missed as I muted the sound to try and absorb the words I'd heard, and the images of grief-striken families, with and without children, I was seeing.

There is more to do, of course, and action is required. For now, in my own tiny little world of rural New Hampshire right now, folks every where are saddened, children are frightened, and, well, life goes on. To be continued, of course...

These are the birds I took to my mother-in-law. She has several, before these, and she likes putting them around her apartment in predictable and unlikely places. One was peeking out at me from behind a towel as I went into the bathroom. These were made in China, and have been seen here before. They seemed as good a transition as any, in this blog, between commenting on the tragic loss of lives in Sandy Hook and starting to move on. But not forgetting, not ever.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

I cannot post --not yesterday, not today-- as usual, reeling, as we all are, after the tragedy that took so many young lives in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday.

Headlines scream, "Newtown is Everytown, USA," and President Obama reminded the nation and indeed the world, that "these are our children, our towns," as he called for meaningful action.

"Silence is the right response in such a moment." (David Lantigua, moral theology professor at Catholic University) “Our initial response should be careful not to attempt to explain away the suffering by identifying some cause,” he wrote in a long, anguished contemplation of the Connecticut shooting. “We are not prepared as a society to face such evil without first responding to the countless victims and their families. And this calls for silence. Only silence will enable us to weep and grieve with those who are weeping right now.”" ~ Washington Post

Silence seems right to me now. For a while. Silence and contemplation.

Not looking away, but quietly being present, as best one can. Sitting with what is. And remembering, always, "the opposite of good is not evil, it is indifference." Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Friday, December 14, 2012

I'm still chugging way, working on finishing the next couple quilts (numbers four and five for me) from donated blocks sent from all over the world as part of the 5,000 Quilts for Hurricane Sandy Relief goal (also see the box at the top of the side column).

Pictured above is a not-so-great night time shot of Sandy Relief Quilt Three, spread over a couch (part of the quilt is not visible). I will post better pictures once these tops are quilted and bound.

Corner of quilt one, quilted by Phyllis Dewey of Quilter's Pantry

This is a sneak preview of quilted SRQ One, sent to me by the wonderfully talented and helpful longarm quilter, Phyllis Dewey of Quilter's Pantry. If you're one of the block makers, or if you just appreciate this effort, please stop by her website or her blog and tell her thanks for helping out with this project!

Now that I'm home in New Hampshire (after spending most of the last two years in China), I'm going to be doing major studio cleaning and culling over the next few months. This little bundle of five sunny fat quarters seems like a good place to begin. Leave a comment here on this post by noon EST on my mother's birthday (December 19) if you'd like to have these. I'll choose at random and send them off---nationally or internationally-- the next day!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Blocks for Sandy Relief Quilt Three, waiting to be startched and pressed, then trimed and sewn. These gorgeous blocks were made by Julia from Perth in Western Australia, Heather from Charleston, SC, and the Triangle Square Quilt Guild in Shelby, Montana. It's fun to look at the many different bits of fabric in each block and wonder about its origins or original purpose--a girl's dress, perhaps, or another quilt project?

This is the third night of Chanukah. The flickering glow reflected in the brick-framed window conjurs up winter stories and fables in my mind. I imagine a cold, weary traveler finding her way up the hill by following the light in the window of this close-to-the road farm house (built in 1705).

SRQ Two--the top is nearly finished. I will also post pictures of each finished quilt before they are sent off. The rich, varied colors and wide variety of patterns show that many hands worked to make this quilt!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Tonight is the second night of Chanukah. The candles really do seem to bring warmth and hope. It's good to be home in New Hampshire once again.

The 42 wonky log cabin blocks for Sandy Relief Quilt Two are starched, pressed and trimmed--by the end of the day they'll be sewn into the finished top and ready for quilting. The block-makers for this quilt (names and national/international locations) are listed here (in the previous post). Beautiful blocks!

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Fuzzy pic--sorry--husband was standing on a chair with the quilt in his upheld arms, urging me to "hurry up" and take the picture.

Made with beautiful blocks donated by quilters across the country--see this post for names/places. This top is now on its way to Phyllis Dewey at Quilter's Pantry in Tennessee. Phyllis is the amazingly generous longarm quilter who has volunteered to do the quilting! Look for pictures of the finished quilt here and on the Quilter's Pantry website.

More blocks are arriving each day from all over the country and beyond, some from as far as Israel and Australia! I'm pressing and trimming blocks as they arrive. The next quilt, Sandy Quilt II, will be made from lovely blocks made by Sally in Los Angeles, Christine in Jerusalem, Bonita in PonpanoBeach, FL, Carol in Boynton Beach, FL, Ruth in Alma MI, and Carol in Centreville, Va. Thanks to everyone! Look for pictures here soon!

Mark Spragg: Where Rivers Change DirectionSpragg's vivid, meditative memoir conjures images of my early childhood in Colorado, fishing or exploring on my grandparents' or uncle's ranches. It's a time capsule of place and male coming-of-age in a mostly forgotten, living close to the land and animals, way of life.

Susan Briscoe: Japanese Quilt BlocksModern Japanese quilting using Eastern and Western techniques. Contains 125 blocks from several different traditions, including applique and sashiko. Terrific resource for any quilter.

Orhan Pamuk: SnowIf you're at all interested in exploring Turkey's past and future through the lens of riveting literature, this is a must read. It's the first book I've read by Pamuk, but it won't be the last. Atwood and Updike had this to say: “Not only an engrossing feat to tale-spinning, but essential reading for our times. [Pamuk is] narrating his country into being,” Margaret Atwood, The New York Times Book Review. “A major work…conscience-ridden and carefully wrought, tonic in its scope, candor, and humor…with suspense at every vortex…. Pamuk is [Turkey’s] most likely candidate for the Nobel Prize,” John Updike, The New Yorker.

Nicole Krauss: Great House: A NovelIntriguing style and format. Haunting, philosophical, memorable. A collection of seemingly short stories that begin to weave together mid-novel, forming a complex whole by the end.

Rose Tremain: Trespass: A Novelremain is a prize winning author (Orange Prize, Whitbread Award) living in Norwalk, England. This is her latest novel, and the first one I've read. It's about how "the lives of two pairs of aging siblings converge and overlap in a lushly neglected valley in the Cévennes region of southern France" (Booklist).

Lynne Sharon Schwartz: Disturbances in the Field: A Novelsturbances was published in 1983, with a paperback edition published in 2005. "I have not been so wholly taken into an aura, a field, since I began being hypnotized by Dostoevski and Tolstoy and George Eliot..." writes Max Apple. This philosophical novel follows the lives of four women (one main protagonist) and a couple men from their college days at Barnard and Columbia in the 1950s.